The British Transport Minister, Grant Shapps, has announced that on February 11 the covid-19 screening test for fully vaccinated people upon arrival in the UK. A measure that can help speed up the recovery of the British market, since it makes British vacations cheaper by up to 200 euros, since until now they have had to carry out two tests when they return home and if they test positive, quarantine. The under 18 years old will continue to be treated as fully vaccinated for international travel purposes.
In a statement before the House of Commons, Shapps specifies that travelers who travel to this country will only have to fill out a location form, although these documents -which are also currently required- “will be simpler and easier”. On the other hand, those people who are not fully vaccinated will no longer have to undergo the test on day eight after they arrive in this country or isolate themselves.
With the changes, those travelers who are not immunized will have to fill in the location document that includes a negative result of a covid test carried out two days before leaving for the United Kingdom and undergo another PCR upon arrival.
Shapps justifies the changes in the current rules for traveling internationally with the argument that tests on vaccinated people are no longer “useful” while stressing that the measure will make traveling “much easier”, will save money for families and will provide certainty to passengers and the industry, especially ahead of the summer. In his speech, he also indicated that this country will also recognize the vaccines from 16 other countries, including China and Mexico, which means that vaccinated travelers from a total of 118 countries will be able to enter it. Those under the age of 18 will continue to be treated as fully vaccinated for international travel purposes.
The news represents an important boost for ethe aviation sector and some airlines have reacted, such as the British EasyJet, whose CEO, Johan Lundgren, indicates in a statement that they “celebrate” it, knowing that many of their clients “will also be delighted to see the return of unrestricted travel in the United Kingdom.”
“We believe that the requirement to present a test to travel should be a thing of the past. It is clear that travel restrictions have not significantly curbed the spread of omicron in the UK, so it is important that there are no more rash reactions to future variants,” he said.
Currently, people who are already vaccinated have to order a covid-10 test from a private company -antigen tests are admitted- to which these travelers must undergo two days after arrival in the country. In the case of travelers who are not vaccinated, they must take a test before boarding and two PCR tests upon arrival -taken on the second and eighth day after arrival-, in addition to being isolated for ten days. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland it has previously followed England’s lead when it comes to covid-19 rules although it will be up to their governments to make adjustments to travel requirements.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.